Not Involved
by adorable pragmatism
Summary: Pre-Invasion - Wally and Artemis are done with the hero business. And then Dick shows up outside their bedroom window in the middle of the night. "I'm thinking of faking my own death."


A/N: Part two of my Pre-Invasion thing that I started on a whim and couldn't stop. But I think after this I'm done. Continuation of "Not Ready"

Also this might be unpopular opinion here, but I totally understand where Wally's coming from with the no-more-hero-ing thing in the show. Because, face it, superheroes get screwed over so often, everyone they love dies, and nothing ever goes right for them. I don't blame him for wanting to stay normal and safe.

* * *

Wally doesn't need to open his eyes to know who's tapping on his window. It can only be one person, unless there's a woodpecker with a grudge against them that knows how to tap in the rhythm of catchy Top-40 songs.

He turns over, giving the window his back, hoping Dick gets the message and _leaves_.

The tapping's replaced by a soft clicking, then the sound of the window scraping open. Nelson doesn't even growl. He's snoring away at the foot of the bed. Some guard dog.

A cool nighttime breeze takes this chance to venture inside. Wally pulls the covers tighter around him and curls up closer to Artemis—she's also pretending to still be asleep—for warmth, wondering what Dick's problem is. Why can't he just knock on the door or call over the phone like a normal person?

"I did a bad thing," Dick says quietly, shutting the window behind him.

Wally groans and flops over so he's facing Dick, and gives him the fiercest glare he can muster with drowsy eyes. "Nightwing. What. The. Hell. It's three in the morning!" He checks the glowing digits displayed on the alarm clock. Two forty-one. Close enough.

"This is serious."

"We're not dressed!"

Dick shrugs, unconcerned by this. "I'll turn around and wait 'til you're decent. Just hurry up."

"Are you crazy?" Wally extracts an arm from under the blanket and uses it to make shoo-ing motions. "Get out of here!"

Their uninvited visitor is sitting on the windowsill, and doesn't budge. "Guys, you need to listen to me. It's really important."

"Did you kill someone?" Artemis grumbles into her pillow.

"No."

"Then it can wait."

"No, no it can't. I need to tell _somebody!"_ Dick runs his hands through his hair in distress. "It's driving me insane, keeping it a secret."

Artemis lifts her head up, a sleepy frown on her face. "What are you talking about?"

"You know how I said 'no' when you asked if I killed someone? Well, that might not be completely accurate." His hands are still clutching at his hair, and he's looking at the floor instead of them as he speaks. "I mean, I— I didn't actually _kill_ him, but I didn't stop him from doing something s-so dangerous, and reckless, and— and— and—" The stuttering only starts when Dick's unbearably stressed. "I shouldn't have gone along with it. It—it was never going to work. I should've told Batman, or— or the Justice League, and now…" He takes a deep breath and exhales, trying to calm down. "I'm thinking of faking my own death," he says matter-of-factly. "It's the only solution I can come up with."

Wally and Artemis exchange glances. He's still annoyed. She's verging on intrigued.

Giving a mixture of a sigh and a yawn, Wally reaches down and feels around the floor for a pair of boxers, almost knocking Nelson off the bed as he does so. "Turn around, dude."

* * *

"You shouldn't have shown up here in uniform," Wally tells Dick. They're sitting at the kitchen table while Artemis makes tea. "What if the neighbours—?"

"No one saw me." Dick flips through the textbook lying open in front of him. "You taking philosophy?"

He lingers on a page. Wally wonders if he's jealous. It doesn't matter how brilliant Dick is—with the amount of time and energy being team leader requires of him, he's unable to take more than one or two courses by correspondence.

There's no doubt in Wally's mind that they've made the right decision to focus on school, not hero-ing.

"That's me, actually," Artemis says, sliding the book aside and plunking one mug of tea in front of Dick, and then taking a sip of the other mug as she sits down. Wally doesn't like tea. "Got a test tomorrow."

"Oh. Sorry about—"

"Don't worry. It's just a quiz. It'll be easy—the prof's pretty slack." Artemis is lying to Dick—Wally knows that she is. Her philosophy professor is the most cantankerous jerk in the entire faculty, and the teacher she complains about most.

Wally frowns and turns from her to Dick. "So, what's the problem?"

"It's Kaldur," Dick says. The name makes Wally and Artemis's expressions darken. "But it's not what you think. It's complicated. Just hear me out for a minute."

They do. At the end of Dick's explanation, they stare at him, dumbstruck. Everything they knew is turned upside-down.

"This whole time," Wally says in a low voice, trying to keep the words from shaking. "_This whole time_. You knew he wasn't a traitor, and you didn't tell us."

Wally's stomach twists in shame as he recalls all of the terrible things he said and thought about their ex-teammate. All of the horrible punishments that he imagined were _too good_ for Kaldur, that traitor working with the same despicable people that kidnapped and killed the original Roy.

Artemis's hand finds Wally's under the table, and she squeezes. He squeezes back.

Dick's looking down into his mug of tea, his head hanging. "I didn't tell anyone. Not Conner, or M'gann, or Zee. No one on the Team or the Justice League. No one, period."

"Doesn't Batman know?" Artemis asks. "He has to. He's _Batman_. The world's greatest detective."

"And I'm the person who trained under the world's greatest detective. I know his methods. I know how to hide things from him. He's been busy teaching Robin lately, not to mention Batgirl, and ever since, well, _this_—" Dick pulls at the fabric of his Nightwing uniform and lets go, snapping it against his chest. "—he's given me and the Team more space."

"I can't believe you had Kaldur do this," Wally says coolly.

"_I_ had Kaldur do this?" Dick looks up, the whites of his mask wide. "It was his idea! I'd never ask him, or anyone, to do something like this. I tried to talk him out of it, but he was set on taking down the Light from the inside."

"He wasn't thinking clearly. Tula died, he found out about his father—it's enough to make anyone act stupid. He didn't know—"

"Kaldur knew from the beginning what he was getting himself into. Believe me, he knew."

"Kaldur never betrayed us," Artemis says to herself. She looks at Dick and asks hesitantly, "And Tula?"

"No, she's really…" Dick trails off, unable to finish that sentence. "But Kaldur blames the Light, not us, for what happened to her." He looks aside guiltily. "Well, maybe he blames us a little. With the takedown of Ocean Master, we knew the Light would probably bring Black Manta into their ranks. And then Black Manta reached out to Kaldur. The opportunity was there. There was plausible motivation for him turning on us. He—"

"He was the most convenient choice?" Wally asks. The question is barbed and accusing even though it isn't meant to come out that way. It just does.

"He felt he had a chance," Dick corrects firmly. "After everything the Light's done to Tula and Roy, he didn't want them to ruin any more lives. They have to be stopped, and he's doing more than anyone to make it happen."

They're silent for a minute. Wally and Artemis just look at each other, still trying to wrap their heads around this shocking information. Dick sips his tea quietly.

"What was this about faking your death?" Artemis asks.

Dick shakes his head. "Just a stupid idea. Kaldur's been working hard to gain Black Manta's trust, but if he doesn't do something to really _prove_ himself, and show that he's really turned on his old friends, then all of this will have been for nothing, and Kaldur…" He pauses, his brow furrowed in worry. "Whatever happens to him won't be good."

"So if he 'kills' you," says Wally, making air-quotes with his fingers, "Black Manta will trust him."

"And we'll have a shot at finally learning something useful," Dick adds. "I'd do it in a heartbeat. The only thing stopping me is the Team. They need me as their leader. I can't abandon them."

Of course he can't. Dick sacrificing himself, even a fake sacrifice, is the same mistake Kaldur made in the training exercise imprinted so deeply in their memories. The Team will fall apart without him. Wally can't think of anyone capable of taking over if Dick needs to go into hiding—with the amount of members there are now, it has to be an even more difficult job than when Kaldur was in charge.

"And if it gets to that, Batman will have to be brought in on the secret," says Dick. "He'll be suspicious, and won't stop digging until he finds out the truth." Dick rubs his masked eyes with the heels of his hands, clearly exhausted. "I'll probably have to tell him beforehand. Batgirl and Robin, too. I don't want to—they won't be happy with me—but I need people I really trust to help pull it off."

"You don't trust M'gann and Conner?" Artemis asks, confused.

"It's not that. I'm just not sure they can work together on something like this without having their feelings about the break-up interfere. I'd rather not tell them, if I can help it. Conner's not the best liar. His real anger at Kaldur is more convincing than he could act. And M'gann… something's off with her, but I can't put my finger on it."

Artemis raises an eyebrow. "You haven't told anyone else, but you're telling us?"

"You're two of the people I trust most in the world."

Wally narrows his eyes at the choice of words. Dick trusts them, and needs people he trusts to help him with this mission. So that's where this is going. He should have known. "We're not coming back to the Team! How many times do we have to tell you that?"

"I'm not—" Dick begins, but Artemis cuts him off.

"Nightwing, you came to our house in the middle of the night, telling us about a top-secret mission," she says, her tone neutral, and she gives a half-shrug. "It does kind of seem like you're asking for our help."

"You promised not to involve us anymore," Wally reminds him, "and, dude, you just broke that promise."

"I just thought I should tell you the truth," Dick says, but he slouches in his chair guiltily. They all know how much he misses them.

"Why? So that we'd put on our uniforms and help you?" Wally says sharply. "Listen, you've got the Team. You've got Batman. We're out of the game, and trying to _stay_ that way. You just have to accept it, or…" He swallows, and forces himself to say it, even though it's not easy. "Or don't. I was hoping you'd respect our decision. That us being _just_ civilians wouldn't change everything, but if you can't deal with it, then… That's your problem. I don't care anymore."

Dick doesn't often look scared, but he does now. Shocked, horrified, and vulnerable, his eyes wide. Although Wally feels terrible for being so harsh—and Artemis is frowning at him so he's going to hear about it later—it's the only way Dick will learn.

"Wally, you're still my best friend," Dick finally manages to say. "I— I'm sorry I'm such a bad one." He stands and backs away quickly, slapping on a smile and giving a short laugh at himself. "This was stupid. You're right—I shouldn't have come here. I just— I— I didn't know what to do. But it's okay, I'll figure something out." Making a beeline for the window in the living room, he says over his shoulder, "Thanks for listening, guys. Oh, and good luck on your test, Artie."

And he's gone, opening the window and jumping out before Wally can call him back or tell him to just use the freaking door. _It's right there, _only a few steps away.

"I can't believe it," Artemis says in a hoarse voice. Her eyes are bright when she looks up at Wally. "Kaldur's not… He's still…" She hugs Wally and touches her forehead against his. "It's like getting him back from the dead."

"I know." They break the embrace. "I… I just want to see him," Wally admits. "That's all."

"So do I." She gathers the mugs on the table and puts them in the sink. "I'll call Nightwing in the morning?"

Wally crosses the room and looks out the open window. Dick is long gone. "Nah, I'll do it," he says as he shuts the window and latches it closed. "I need to apologize to him anyway."

"Yes," she says sternly. "Yes, you do."

He falls asleep later with his face pressed into Artemis's hair, wondering if he's going to regret that morning phone call sometime in the future.


End file.
